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Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Amanda Stokes Headteacher Westcliff Primary Academy Crawford Avenue Bispham Blackpool Lancashire FY2 9BY

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Ofsted visit to Westcliff Primary Academy

Following my visit with Sue Eastwood, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 13 October 2020, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the visit’s findings. Thank you for the time you made available to discuss your actions since September 2020, when the government expected all schools to open fully to all pupils.

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Ofsted visit to Westcliff Primary Academy

This visit was conducted under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 (as amended) and in accordance with Ofsted’s published procedures for visiting schools while routine inspections are temporarily suspended.

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Ofsted visit to Westcliff Primary Academy

Ofsted’s visits to schools during the autumn term are not inspections. We are not giving graded judgements. We did not undertake the usual range of inspection activities and were unable to check other sources of evidence, such as visits to lessons or looking at pupils’ work. The content of this letter gives an overview of our discussions about what has happened in your school this term.

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Ofsted visit to Westcliff Primary Academy

During the visit, we spoke with you, the executive headteacher and the deputy headteacher, who is also the safeguarding leader. We did not speak to pupils because of the protective measures in place.

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Context

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is leading Ofsted’s work into how England’s education system is managing the return to full education for pupils, following an extended break in formal schooling due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

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Context

In undertaking this focused work, HMI are visiting a broad range of schools. HMI will visit a sample of:

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Context

 approximately 1,200 schools across all Ofsted grades (outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate)  maintained schools, academies and free schools, special schools and centres of alternative provision, including those in cities, and coastal, town or rural communities.

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Context

The information from this visit will feed into Ofsted’s national reporting so that the insights can be shared with the government and the education sector. We did not find any significant concerns during the visit. In such a case, an inspection report would be published on our website and available to parents and carers.

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Context

We did not consider your response to COVID-19 during the spring and summer terms 2020, when the school was not open to all pupils.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 The school opened to pupils on 2 September 2020. You expect all pupils from the Reception Year to Year 6 to attend full time. Nursery children are expected to attend all their allocated sessions.  Pupils’ attendance has been higher than is usual for this time of year. However, the school closed to all pupils between 14 September 2020 and 28 September 2020 due to the number of positive COVID-19 cases.  Pupils are studying their usual range of curriculum subjects. Subject leaders and teachers continue to adapt the content of their subject curriculums to cover any missed learning. You intend to get back to your normal curriculum content by summer 2021.  You told us that teachers plan activities to help pupils catch up in subjects other than English and mathematics. For example, pupils are learning the historical, geographical and scientific facts that they have missed.  Teachers have checked pupils’ new starting points in reading, writing and

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

mathematics. This information is helping teachers to identify and support those pupils who need to catch up.  In the Reception Year, Year 1 and Year 2, pupils are catching up with missed learning in phonics. In Years 3 to 6, teachers are focusing on developing pupils’ comprehension skills. This is because pupils are finding it difficult to answer questions about the texts that they read.  Your teachers have found that pupils have forgotten some of what they had been taught in mathematics before March 2020. Your teachers are adapting their planning to revisit this learning. For example, pupils in Year 3 and Year 4 are recapping their knowledge of multiplication tables.  You have arrangements in place so that pupils can continue to study the planned curriculum remotely, should this be needed. You provide ongoing training and support for the teaching staff so that they can make the best use of remote learning resources.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

Thank you again for contributing to this important national work. The views and experiences you have shared will help to inform future policy.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body and the chief executive officer of the Fylde Coast Academy Trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Blackpool. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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